Concrete, the most abundantly used material all over the world, suffers several drawbacks such as low tensile strength, permeability to liquids and consequent corrosion of reinforcement, etc. Several admixtures have been used since ancient times to change and improve the properties and performance of the concrete. Water hyacinth is a free floating aquatic plant that infests rivers, dams, lakes and irrigation channels. It affects water flow, blocks sunlight and oxygen and completely destroys the aquatic life cycle. If these plants could be harvested for some beneficial uses, the menace could be reduced to a large extent. In this paper, the feasibility of using the water hyacinth fibres to improve the properties of cement concrete has been studied.

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